Grondona says Messi is best No. 10 for Argentina

Argentine Football Association President Julio Grondona says Lionel Messi is the best player to ever wear the No. 10 for the national team, an obvious slap in the face for Diego Maradona.

In a radio interview, Grondona said Messi, Maradona, Juan Roman Riquelme and Juan Sebastian Veron were in a class above the rest although he said "Messi is the best" of the group.

Grondona's comments are a dig at Maradona and part of a feud.

Last week Maradona said he was taking Grondona to court, accusing him of spreading false information about his problems with drugs and alcohol.

Maradona says he has been clean for six years and Grondona has suggested otherwise.

"Messi is the best No. 10 in the history of Argentine football," Grondona told Radio 10. "Messi, Maradona, Riquelme and Veron are from another planet."

In an interview last week, Maradona accused the 79-year-old Grondona of being senile -- calling him "gaga" in Spanish -- and suggested he was receiving treatments several times a year at an expensive Swiss clinic.

Maradona has been unable to find work since being released by Grondona following Argentina ouster five months ago in the quarterfinals of World Cup. It was Grondona who hired Maradona two years ago as the national team coach.